[SPOILERS] yuris125 on a Pitboss77 boat

[yuris125]

Bing does have more than enough defences right now




Going to chill in the lake and see if an opportunity opens up, otherwise have to wait for more units (and possibly for post-Astro, we'll see). All in all, hoping Bing wouldn't notice a stack of 4 galleys was too much to hope for

There's some merit in using a great artist in Ise, for better visibility in the area if nothing else. But I doubt it will be a better play than just popping it for a golden age in the final push towards Astro

Great library finished this turn. Parthenon due in 3

[yuris125]

Bing now has longbows, so my attack can officially be considered repelled




Going to send a fish for fish next turn, then maybe come back post-Astro, maybe go in another direction (although Lemuria really is an eyesore which would be much better in my hands, never mind the fact that it was settled earlier than Ise)

Focus is going to be on research for now. Once Music is done, I should be ready for an Astro push. The problem is, the next great person is due to come out of Kyoto, but the city did run an engineer specialist, so there's a chance it will be a engineer. If that happens, the engineer can bulb Machinery, so I don't want to start research on it. I can pick up Monarchy, for wineries more than for civics, and do need to research Alphabet to unlock bulbing Optics and Astro - think that will be the research path until the next great person

(Kyoto is also getting a National Epic, so there's a low chance of that great person being an artist, but I don't want to think about it )

I'm also considering Shwedagon Paya, which is still available, and would take 10 turns in Kagoshima after Parthenon is completed (or someone beats me to it next turn). I need to sit down and calculate how many great people I can produce, how long it would take, and if building the wonder for Pacifism during golden age and Theocracy after is worthwhile. Keep in mind that I won't have Caste System available for golden age, I'm avoiding CoL to block Philosophy bulb

Finally, there's still 3 more cities I can settle, two settlers are on the way, one more needs to be built

[yuris125]

Parthenon is finished

Bing demanded Ise via diplo. As far as I'm concerned, it's the case of "come and take it". I have 5 defenders in the city behind walls (just finished), and as I found when evaluating an attack on Lemuria, it isn't easy to break

To be honest, if Bing does take Ise, it's not even a huge deal, now that both marble wonders are finished. I would like to keep marble for the epics, but don't think there's anything else important I need to build with it

Actually, has MoM been built? I assumed it was, but realised I don't remember the confirmation. Will check in game next turn

Moved the fleet out of the lake - if Bing does somehow take Ise, I don't want it to get stuck. But it is heading home

Diplo response - demand Lemuria, followed by a fish for fish. Underlying meaning - each of us has a city we would like to change hands, but I'm happy to maintain status quo for now

Scooter researched Alphabet, has Astro available to research, and had a great scientist born this turn. He's definitely getting there first, maybe as soon as next turn

[yuris125]

Bing went ahead and declared war, demanding Ise for peace




He sure has a lot of triremes. I don't, the two in the area are the only ones I currently have. He, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have much in terms of transport ships, there's only 5 galleys in range of Ise. 10 units shouldn't even be able to break what was there when he declared (3 axes and 2 archers in a city on a hill with walls, catapults are not in play, no one has Construction)

Nonetheless, I went ahead and unloaded the swords into the city. Swords are not the best defenders of course, but with all the defensive bonuses, they would do alright. This is mostly a show that if I put my mind to defending the city, he's not taking it - or at least it would be very costly, for a city which, let's be honest, is not really amazing

Diplo sent: peace treaty with Bing declaring on Scooter (to encourage him to take a closer look at the game state and the state of Scooter's research), then white peace

If he doesn't sign peace, guess I'll have to build some triremes otherwise, even if Bing can't take Ise, he can have free reign in my territorial waters, pillaging seafood. Don't want to build them at this stage of the game at all, it would require me cancelling the wealth builds, which are essential at present, and triremes are close to being obsolete

Music is researched at the end of the turn, great artist claimed. Not quite sure when I'm firing the golden age, but it will be soon (and I would prefer not to be at war when it happens). Next research has to be Machinery, and if I lose the great person roll in Kyoto and get an engineer, will probably have to sit on it until Steam Power. Alternatively, the great person after that is coming from Tokyo, and there's a high chance of it being a prophet (a lot of Tokyo's gpp is from Oracle). If that happens, I could use prophet + engineer to extend the golden age

And MoM has indeed been built, Scooter has it (of course he does) - the only wonder he built so far

[T-hawk]

Praetorian World Tour vibes there. What happens now, do the swords sit there forever?

If you'd be sitting on an engineer for that long, what's the math on settling it? People hardly ever seem to settle GPs, is the time horizon in multiplayer to everything important just that short?

[yuris125]

The hope is that Bing signs peace, they get back into the galleys, sail back to the mainland, and get used post-Astro. An attack with samurai off galleons is still part of the plan, and swords can supplement that. The main purpose of offloading them was to show Bing that I can defend the city, I don't want them to actually fight

Admittedly their presence will also confirm to him that I was planning to attack, hopefully he won't hold a grudge

I think the issue people have with settling gps is that an immediate boost provided via a golden age is a better way to get ahead/catch up over a shorter period of time. You know how Civ is, 50 hammers right now is almost always better than 100 hammers over 50 turns. But I admit that because of it (and because of the need to catch up to Scooter) I didn't really think about settling it. Will have to do the math, but still expect using it for GA to work out better

[yuris125]

Big reiterated his demand of peace for Ise. He also attacked the trireme/galley stack, losing two triremes and sinking two galleys




I'm not going to continue questioning the thinking behind his decision, I understand that Ise is likely annoying to him. But I do think he's investing so much into taking it, he's as good as throwing away his game. Now the goal is not to throw away mine

6 swords loaded into the remaining galleys and are sailing to Fukushima, which Bing could threaten. I should be able to build enough triremes to protect everything else. It is a bit risky this turn, when the ships are close to Lemuria, and the stack is only protected by two wounded triremes. But if he has more triremes than the ones I saw at Ise last turn, and they're in range of the tile where my ships are this turn, well done him

Surprisingly enough, he is not blockading Ise, I'm still getting marble. In case that changes, I went ahead and triple-whipped National Epic in Kyoto

Started Shwedagon Paya, game says 10 turns, should be less than that, as part of the build is likely to be during golden age. Exact timing of that will depend on which great person is born in Kyoto, as I need to know how many great people I need to get during the golden age. The goal is to have a 12-turn golden age, switch to Pacifism for the second half, and finish it in Vassalage/Theocracy with Astro researched. This is additionally complicated by the war, as I have to cancel wealth builds in high production cities in favour of units (and do have to rely on wealth builds until the main bulb path is completed and I can research CoL)

[yuris125]

Bing did not pursue the wounded triremes and boats full of swords sailing away. He also unloaded an expeditionary force of.. 2 archers next to Ise




He keeps sending me diplo which involves me giving up the city. I see no reason to give it up. He's still not blockading (did he forget about the option?), so the city continues to serve the purpose it was settled for despite the war

A much bigger concern is that Superdeath sent diplo suggesting that Scooter is planning an attack on Yokohama




This makes a lot of sense too. With Scooter having Astro, the city became vulnerable to an attack from the south. And it is a huge concern - I don't have much filler in the south, it's easy to reach core cities from this direction

Obviously I don't know how close the attack is and how much I can do to stop it. For now I dry-whipped an axe, will overflow into archer, and build walls after that. However at the moment a small stack of crossbows would ruin my life. I need Machinery very soon, but to get the research done, I need 500g. Actually should've checked, maybe SD or Cairo can lend me the cash

(Also pictured: the newest city of Suo. It has nothing to work other than a fish resource, the coast, and one hill, which is why it hasn't been settled earlier. This city I don't care about, if Scooter razes it, so be it (or SD could raze it, although with the fish being in Tokyo's borders for forever, doubt he had any claims on this spot))

[yuris125]

I think the way to fund Machinery is simply to fire that golden age. I've been focusing on making sure a GA runs uninterrupted for 12 turns, but there's no reason for that, there's nothing wrong with doing a 6+6, and maybe even delaying the second one. Just going to wait for the great person from Kyoto: if it's an engineer, I would rather use it for GA rather than the Music artist, since the next GP also has a chance of being an engineer

[yuris125]

Kyoto's great person is a scientist. So I skilfully won the roll (was about 63%)

Will fire golden age next turn. Won't be a hugely impactful one - don't think I even have any civics to switch into, although there's a chance I will finish Shwedagon Paya by the end and will switch to Pacifism. Main goal is simply to accelerate GP production and research at the time when getting to Astro asap is crucial

Realised one of the reasons I'm struggling with economy is that I have no markets, think I only built one, in the holy city with a shrine